The Weekly Negro world., 1887-10-15
BADGER BATTING OUT WEST.
A Favorite Sport In Southern California
The Game Caught Mapping.

A Eayorite Sport In Southern California
The Game Caught Mapping.
The favorite sport in northern California
and over the entire state is coursiHg with
orevhounds. Some of the finest dogs In
the world are owned in this state, and so
finely are they trained and bred that the
iackrabbit, one of the swiftest of its kind,
has little chance OF escape from them.
The evolutions Of pursued and pursuers
are of the greatest interest. The badger,
while coramon, is rarely met with, and
not one Californian in thousand has
seen Hone alive in the open country,
though probably thousands have fallen
into badger holes. In appearances the
animal resembles a short, fiattened out
hear. Its colors are black and white,
attractively arranged, so that it presents
4 striking and conspicuous appearance.
It's mouth is armed with q powerful
array Of teeth, and in the arrangement
Of the jaw we find a popularity not
found in any other mammal, SO that it
is almost impossible to dislocate it,
which explains the bulldog like tenacity
Of the animals grip. In its habits the
badger is quiet and harmless, remaining
in its burrow during the day time, and
roaming around at night in search OF
food.
In olden times in England, badger bait.
ing consisted in capturing the animal,
placing it in depression in the ground,
and then setting the dogs upon it. The
dog that succeeded in taking it out and
killing it was supposed to be the victor,
though all undoubtedly aided in wearing
| it out. In southern California the Gu
rious animal is occasionally found out OF
| its burrow during the day, and viii af-
| ford fine sport to riders who endeavor to
capture it by the aid Of dogs. A robust
badger is q match for half dozen ordi-
nary greyhounds, hence the fight is not
so onesided as might be imagined.
One morning just as the sun was riding
/ over the Arizona desert and starting the
night shadows in the deep canyons Of the
Sierra Madres, party of horsemen rode
over the mesa, literally wading through
tho flowers. A pack of greyhounds fol.
lowed, while number Of foxhonnds ran
here and there breaking out now and
then into fitful intonations as rabbit
trail was crossed. Finally great com
motion is heard in clump of eucalyptus
trees; rush is made, the horsemen sur
rounding the spot where the hounds an
uttering cries that tell Of game il
the tolls. For moment nothing
is seen; then q black and whit
furry object, as big as some Of th'
dogs, appears in the midst Of them
now on its back, swapping viciously; nov
clinging to dog with vice like grip
, and tearing with it's powerful claws. Tn
badger had been caught mapping, and wa
pounced upon by the dogs while lying il
root hole, where some one had takel
up eucalyptus. In this fcrtiiffeaf'Ss Ia
q ina lsa ali advantages ilissA sva
NOS sioNg fs't:s5s4 - sssass fisa. .geitet
dog fol o. rolled il sspon ii s,aey wer
] / olt,- il, -bora and scratched ~-ist spir
= tis. rN'd9 eonsise aci,s reserve p0w.s
lie ,,s.rt Vi Cile annual.
II Good fox hounds are rare in souther
i California, and as there were several
q the pack taking their punishment to
well to suit their owners, the latter mad
an attempt to close in on the badger; br
= the dogs, wild with rage, crowded on
and in q moment the unfortunate beai
8 was under heap of hounds. The dof
J" were hauled off and thrown aside, beate
), and yelled at, and finally the horses wei
Y driven among them, and all that n
g NAMED Of the badger was hauled ou
3. The animal weighed thirty pounds, an
its powerful claws told the story Of i
6 staying powers. The skin was saved :
If trophy and afterward made intda stoo
i The hair Of the animal Is extremely va
: liable in trade, being utilized in the maj
/ ufacture of brushes, for which purpo1
hundreds of badgers are killed yearly
Europe. San Gabriel (Cal.) Cor. Ne
E York Commercial Advertiser.
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